Are you new to Samsung Galaxy S5 and do not know the meaning of the icons or the notification icons appear on your phone's home. You might be asking "Why bother?", it is because, for you to know what is happening on your phone and to where or which application that you need to check from the phone. The notification of Samsung Galaxy S5 is not just 1 or 10 but there are bunch of notification.

Please note that some notification may not be present from one Samsung Galaxy S5 to the other. This is due to their network carriers that usually has it's own specific icon for their services, meanings might be a little different but has the same function. Just like any other Android devices, the icons can be found in the notification bar on top of the phone screen where your time and signal resides.

The Notification Icons On Samsung Galaxy S5

No mobile network

This icon will only appear if your mobile phone is not connected to the network signal coming from your network carrier. It could also be an indication that there is no SIM card installed in the phone, there is a problem with your network carrier signal towers or there is a problem with the SIM card you have installed as the phone may not be an unlocked phone and can only read SIM cards that is dedicated to that specific phone.

Mobile Network Bar

This notification icon will appear once the mobile phone is connected to the network carrier you have on the phone. The signal will let you know if the place where you at has a good, poor or excellent signal. That can be determined on how many bars you are seeing on the phone screen. The more bars the better for connection speed and for better reception

Roaming Service Icon

This means that the phone is connected to some other network to piggy back to their connection and charges may come very expensive that your regular rates from the network carrier you are subscribed. This icon can only be seen if you are travelling outside your country and enabled this service to use it. This is not an automatic enabled feature as it needs to be configured from your network carrier and on your phone.

GPRS Notification Icon

The GPRS or General Packet Radio Service will only appear when you enabled the mobile data on your phone. This usually appears when you are in a place where there is no 3G, HSPA+, 4G, HSPA or LTE connection. The GPRS is the slowest data connection for your mobile devices and do not get frustrated as this is due to the place where you are at does not have the other connection available. Sometimes, this is due to your incorrect APN settings that you need to reconfigure on the phone. To know more about supported places for fast mobile data, it is best you contact your network provider

EDGE Notification Icon

This is still your mobile data network indication and depends from the place you are in. Same explanation from GPRS that has a very slow connection, it is best to inquire from your network carrier to know more of the supported places that has fast mobile internet connection.

3G Connection Icon

This icon means that you phone is connected to mobile 3G data service. The connection for this internet for mobile is much faster than the EDGE and GPRS, because you can browse the internet and even to download attachment from your email messages. However, it may not be fast enough to watch videos online and download movies.

HSPA Notification Icon

This icon has been considered as the mobile broadband connection. At some regions they refer to it as 3.5G network as it is much faster than the regular 3G connection by few M bits only. Some regions also refers to this icon as a 4G connection as most of the time you can do all possible things you can to a phone. Like, watching movies online in High Quality and even download videos but it may take several minutes or hours but decent enough to fill your needs. The arrows indicates for download and upload connection

HSPA+ Notification Icon

Same explanation for the HSPA but this time, it is an evolve connection and was named as 3.75G to 4G. The speed is much faster than the regular HSPA as HSPA+ is about 10 - 20 M bits. Same explanation for the arrows going up and down.

4G Network Connection Icon

This icon is a bit confusing, as with the HSPA and HSPA+ also referred as 4G. The mobile phone might only be connected to the 3G up to the HSPA+ but definitely "Not" the 4G LTE mobile network. This is normally used at some regions to differentiate the 3G connection and the 4G LTE.

4G Network Transmission

This icon means that the phone is connected to the 3G up to HSPA+ data network but not the 4G LTE data network. This indicates that your phone is transmitting data.

4G LTE Notification Icon

This means that you phone is connected to the fastest mobile internet available today. You can simply do web browsing, less load times, download BIG movie files or even batch files using your phone only. This is no longer the 3G to the HSPA+, this means you really are connected to 4G LTE which can go up to 152MB for connection speed. If you see a signal wave on it, it means that it is transmitting data service

Airplane Or The Flight Mode

This notification will only appear if you disabled the connection function on your mobile phone. Meaning, you cannot receive txt messages or phone calls and even mobile internet will not be available for you to use. Normally, this feature can be enabled when you are in a place where radio transmission is not being allowed. One good example is when you are in a plane

SIM Card Missing

Normally visible when you did not insert a SIM card on the phone to use it for WiFi or the SIM card was not being detected by the mobile phone.

SMS or MMS received

This icon usually shows up when you received a text message from one of your contacts or an MMS from one of your contacts or even your network carrier and even from an unknown person/contact.

New Email Message

You received a email messages from your email application which you need to go to the app or tap the notification icon to view it. If you see an @ sign to a folder that means you received one email message only and not multiple messages.

Voice Mail Notification Icon

This icon means that you received a voice mail from someone. If you do not know how to setup your voice mail or configure, it is best that you contact your network carrier to set this up for you.

WiFi Notification Icon

This icon can only be seen once you enabled your WiFi connection on the mobile phone and you are connected to the access point for internet access. Meaning, you are not consuming your phone data as you are getting a connection from a direct connection from DSL or cable internet for usage.

This icon means that your WiFi connection is being enabled but you are not connected to an access point. Most of the time, you are not in a place where you have a preferred network or your phone scanned for new networks which are not yet registered in your phone's preferred network.

Download Booster

This icon will appear once you have enabled the booster on your phone to combine your mobile data network and WiFi to get faster download speed on your phone for big files.

Bluetooth Notification

Your Bluetooth is being enabled on the phone.

Paired

This icon will appear only when your phone scanned for available accessories that has been paired.

Like Bluetooth speaker or Wireless headphones.

Screen Mirror Notification Icon

This icon will only appear once you enabled a screen mirroring on your phone to share contents to a larger screen. Like watching photos or movies that you have in the phone. Whether you are using chrome cast, Samsung Sync or other third party equipment.

Download and Upload Notification Icon

The Arrow going down means that the phone is currently downloading a file or it has been uploaded. While the Arrow going up means you are uploading a file from a social media and so on to where you are currently uploading or it has been uploaded.

USB Connection

This icon will be visible to your phone screen once you connected your phone to a computer to transfer files from phone or versa. Or you are doing a back up and restoration on your phone and even for rooting it.

Questions and Answers

I don't understand what this icon means?

I have an unfamiliar icon at the top of my screen that is a capital N with what looks like the WiFi symbol coming from the bottom left corner

The icon you're explaining is the NFC icon. NFC (Near Field Communications) allows you to transfer data to another device when you tap your phone to it. To turn it off, drag down from the top of your screen with two fingers and tap the NFC button.

I have an icon that I can't find a meaning for?

It appears up on the right hand side of my Galaxy S5. It looks like the WiFi icon with a handset underneath it. What does it mean

A WiFi icon with a headset beneath it is the symbol for WiFi Calling and when it is enabled it means that somebody can make a call to you using internet service offered by your cellphone provider. If you would rather not have your WiFi service accommodate the cost of a call that make sure that his symbol is turned to off.

I had to reset Samsung S5 phone to Factory settings. There is a display screen Icon I don't recognize?

Icon is N with signal indicator in bottom left hand corner. Do you know what it means

That symbol stands for Near Field Communication. You can turn it off within your phone settings. Navigate to the NFC within settings and disable the function. This Youtube Tutorial shows you how to disable the feature on a Galaxy S5.

My Samsung Galaxy S5 has a circle with a line in it where my signal should be?

How can I fix it as it is really getting on my nerves

The circle with the line means that you are not connected to a cellular tower. To fix this if you have recently updated the software on your phone put it into Recovery and choose Wipe Cache Partition. If you have not, then go to your Cellular Networks within Settings. Make sure that you are assigned to your carrier. Toggle between LTE and 2G to see if you get service. Check to see if Airplane Mode is enabled. Finally, if you still can't get service then you will have to check the APN settings on the phone specifically for your carrier.

I want to know is there an icon that tells me I am using data?

I just got my 1st smart phone and I have a data plan which I think I will be changing. I just found out how much data I have used just playing with the phone since 9PM I am at 2GB

You can go into Settings and set a data limit. Your phone will then alert you when you get close to that limit. You can also see if you can add this to your Quick Settings tray on the phone. This appears on the home screen. There are also third party apps in Google that can help you monitor data including what apps cause the most usage on your device.

How do you get a call off hold?

I have the phone icon with 2 lines kind of in the middle of the icon next to the 4G icon and it's saying the call was out on hold. How do I find out what call is on hold and how to get it off

Swipe down the screen and click on the call. This will allow you to hang up the call. If you can't swipe down then that means the icon is just stuck there. Go to Applications Manager and find the Phone App. Clear the data and cache from the app then reboot your phone. The on hold call should now be gone.

The WiFi is enabled but not connected to access. How do I get it to stay connected?

The WiFi is enabled but not connected to access point keeps appearing. I enter my password for my home WiFi it says connected but then keeps scanning and the WiFi with question mark icon appears. How do I get it to stay connected?

Click on the More option in the WiFi section of Settings. There will be an option for WPS. Hopefully, your home router has a WPS button. You can then push the button and should have no connection issues after that for your home WiFi.

In call logs an icon appears with an A with a blue circle with a line through it?

It just says cancelled. Was this an incoming call or was this number dialed

This icon in the Phone application means that you have received a call, but the caller has been added to the rejection list. The caller hears a busy signal and cannot reach you. The rejection list can be edited by tapping on the Phone application, pressing the menu button, and tapping on "Settings". Then, you can select "Call" and "Call rejection". The list is stored in the "Auto reject list" option. To remove contacts from the list, tap on the trash can icon and select the contact.

How do I identify the text key on Galaxy S5?

Unable to text. What key do I select.

The icon is an envelope within a square on the home screen. You then tap it and select to send a message or tap on a text message to reply. A small field will appear for you to initiate typing which brings up the keyboard. If nothing appears then click on the keyboard icon which is a series of several lines like if you were looking down on a keyboard. You can also check your keyboard settings under Language and Output.

Removing unwanted signs on the top screen?

I have a sign that showed 2 arrow pointing each other on vertical, I want to remove it but I can't, any advise?

That signal means that you have Voice over 4G/WiFi enabled within your network settings. You can disable it to remove the notification within network settings one of two ways. Toggle the carrier radio frequency so, for instance, choose WCDMA over GSM then toggle back. There also may be a setting that says VoLTE Call which you can disable.

Why does my S5 freezes and restarts?

My phone keeps on restarting every minute.

You are stuck in a boot loop. Remove the battery from your device and connect the phone to your charger. Then wait 15 minutes. Put the battery back in and try to boot up your phone normally. This is a patch fix so that you can now install the firmware for your device. You will need to reinstall the software if you are stuck in a boot loop pattern. This can occur after an update to the software as well. Or if you installed an app recently this could be the issue. With an update interference, you need to put your phone into Recovery Mode and choose Wipe Cache Partition.

Remove the update icon from status bar after update?

I updated my Samsung Galaxy S5 twice because the phone with a check mark in the bottom right hand corner icon won't leave my status bar and when I select it I'm taken to the update screen. How do you remove it since I have already updated my phone?

Even though you already updated, sometimes the update fails or a patch is pushed through for a bug. Try to update again. If there is nothing to update then put your phone into Recovery Mode. Choose Wipe Cache Partition and then when the phone reboots repeat the process but choose Clear Dalvik Cache. The icon should go away after that.

What does a white letter V in a squarish white box mean?

This's the icon I get most of the time on my phone!. I have tried: I didn't say it was a problem. I'm asking for info about what it indicates.. I think it was caused by: Again I didn't say it was a problem. I'm asking for info about what it indicates.

This could be the symbol for roaming for your carrier. It also could be a notification from an app or a security icon. Without an image, it is hard to determine based on your description. Google Play notifications are in a white square with the symbol for Play.

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